Residents of Ukpor, the headquarters of Nnewi South Local Government Area in Anambra State, took to the streets on Friday to protest a prolonged power outage that has left them in darkness for over six years.
The large crowd of protesters marched to the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) office in the area, chanting solidarity songs and carrying placards with messages such as “EEDC, give us prepaid meters,” “Small businesses in Ukpor have shut down,” “Help our students, give them light to read at night,” and “No more darkness in Ukpor.”
The Ukpor community is demanding the return of their transformers, which they claim were taken by EEDC for refurbishment but have not been fully returned. According to Mr. Nkwadochukwu Onwughalu, Chairman of the Ukpor Electricity Consumers Committee, EEDC disconnected the community from the industrial power line and took away five transformers, only returning two and allegedly installing the rest in another community.
Onwughalu accused EEDC of intentionally leaving Ukpor in darkness and implementing unfair bulk billing practices. He stated, “The previous administration reconnected us to the industrial line, but as soon as they left office, EEDC disconnected us again. Our transformers were taken under the guise of refurbishment, but only two were returned. The remaining three were given to another community, leaving us without power.”
The power outage has had severe consequences for the local economy. Many small businesses have shut down, and community members are frustrated with paying for services they are not receiving. Mr. Valentine Ifechigha, a community leader, emphasized the need for the return of the transformers and the installation of prepaid meters for individual households. He added, “We will no longer pay electricity bills if we do not receive a proper supply.”
Business owners like Mr. Pius Onyeanusi have also been severely affected. Onyeanusi, who ran a sachet water production business, has had to shut down his factory due to the lack of power. “I had 25 workers, but now they are all out of work because we can’t produce without electricity,” he lamented.
EEDC Business District Manager, Evaristus Obeta, addressed the protesters and promised to escalate their concerns to the company’s management. However, when contacted for further comments, especially regarding the missing transformers, he declined to provide additional information.
